Let me ask you this: do consumers shop for jewellery like they shop for tissues? When a shopper goes into a Franklins or a Woolies, they go to a shelf and assess things that are almost identical. They look at them, and want the best value out of these items, which are completely generic. The packaging may appeal, there may be added softness, they might get a few extra sheets out of one or the other. That’s a product.
Fine jewellery, on the other hand, is like haute couture. It’s an individual expression – and it should be as far away from a rack of dresses or a shelf of ‘product’ as you can imagine.
Not all jewellery should be lumped together – in the same way that clothing might be different, there is a difference between mass-produced and low-cost, high-margin jewellery that is advertised through letterbox drops, and that which is created face to face, designed to suit a customer’s budget with a story behind every piece created.
Yet all too often, I see all jewellery being categorised as a ‘product’ that is there to make money.
Part of the problem is that there are far fewer practitioners in today’s jewellery trade. Once upon a time people used to go to their local jewellers who had a bench. Either they were watchmakers or jewellers or both. They kept going to that person because that person was trusted by other family members who had purchased from them.
Now, manufacturing has become less and less individual and more international, so there are less practitioners of the trade. Over generations, those people whom the jewellery store name belonged to have left, and the shops are full of mass-produced jewellery.
With this kind of jewellery, there is no interaction with the end-user and very little love has gone into creating it. Yet if somebody is not manufacturing themselves – and not everyone can be manufacturers – should there be thousands of jewellery stores around the country? Why should people be in the industry if they’re not passionate about the merchandise they’re selling? I believe this, in part, is responsible for the commodification of our industry.
The market for factory-manufactured, mass-produced jewellery is partly being sustained by branding. Branding is driven by advertising and marketing. The idea behind marketing is that you create a desire for something that is, in fact, greater than the actual value of the item – you’re selling the sizzle, not the sausage.
That’s why companies that make something in silver for a very low unit price can sell those items that are mass manufactured at massive multiples of their cost – people aren’t saying “This is a piece of silver with a value of $5”, they’re buying the marketing spin behind it. The cost of materials is minimal, and the item can be sold without the customer questioning the inherent value of the item.
The idea of marketing turns something that may essentially be a product, a mass-manufactured generic item, into something else; customers want to look like the beautiful woman in the brand’s ad.
That’s all well and good, but it’s not your story. In a high-end jewellery store, every piece tells an individual story of the owner. But the jewellery also reflects the customer, because we create something unique, with materials that are being used specifically for the creation of that item, in close consultation with the customer.
Fine jewellers must fight against the commodification of jewellery, before we get to a point where every sale comes down to price.
To express what we do, I’ve come up with the term ‘jewelature’, which reflects all the things that come into play in the creation of a jewellery item for our customer.
Every sale in our shop involves the customer coming in with an idea of something they desire; it’s not something they need – it’s something they want. And what they truly want is a reflection of background, culture and human nature. We simply marry it with their budget and elements of design. Every piece has to integrate their story, so jewelature is about reflecting their culture.
And if we can meet our customers’ standards of desirability and affordability, then what we create will have an inherent value. That value won’t necessarily be about price – in fact, most of the time the selling price is not a true reflection of the work that has gone into creating the piece. But it will be a true reflection of the customer – and of you, the jeweller. And that’s invaluable.
Michael Neuman
Company: Mondial Neuman Jewellers
Position: Co-owner
Years in industry: 12
Qualifications: A graduate gemmologist (GIA) and registered valuer